WHO AM I TO JUDGE?

CHAPTER 22

"Turn on the flashlight." I said to them.

Hiroshi took the flashlight from his bag and turned it. From the top to the bottom, it was a hell of a trip to the underground. The hole was so long, it took us 15 mins to go to the bottom. The place was also moist and dark.

"What is this place?." Meldy asked while gazing her vision everywhere.

"It might be a sewer." Hiroshi replied.

"No I think not, there's no water here." I said to them.

From the looks of it, it was more of a big tunnel, rather than a sewer.
In the dark muddy floors of the tunnel, there was also a straight track leading to the other areas of the underground.

"Yo Hiroshi, last night I think you mentioned something about your father riding a cart in a mine." I said to him.

"Yeah I did." He replied.

"So this place is a mine then."

"A mine? You mean a gold mine?." Meldy asked.

"Yeah possibly."

While walking, we saw a big sign in the wall.

This property belongs to the Elibuende mining corp.

"Elibuende, I think I heard a news about this before." Meldy said while looking at the sign.

"Do tell." Hiroshi said.

"Elibuende was owned by a mafia named Don Felipe Elibuende. This mine was closed because of Illegal mining and I think malicious mischief I'm not sure,"

"Anyway, that guy was so evil. Based from the old news that I've read before, he forced some of his slaves to work in this mine. He even kidnapped some random person then forced them to work in exchange for their freedom and survival." Meldy explained.

"What happened to him after that?." Hiroshi asked.

"He went to prison, but since Don Felipe was rich, the incarceration only lasted for 2 months."

"Where is he now?." I asked.

"I don't know." She replied.

"Let's explore more of this shitty gold mine. Maybe if we're lucky, we can find some real gold." Hiroshi suggested.

We just walked in the dark tunnel for hours, after walking for almost 3 and a half hours, we found the exit that we were looking for.

"Finally, fresh air!" Hiroshi exclaimed in delight.

Outside the mine was a road leading to a town.

"Let's follow that road." I suggested.

After a long walk in the road, we found ourselves in a big town called Millualo.

"What, so we're in Millualo now?." Meldy said.

"Why?." Hiroshi asked.

"Been here a long time ago when my mother was visiting her friend,"

"So basically if this is Millualo, then that mountain that we climbed was the Mt. Caruguri. So that creepy village was on top of Mt. Caruguri." She explained.

"Why are you so surprised?." I asked.

"Sorry I was really surprised when I realized how far we are from home." She said.

With the buildings and infrastructures in chaos and destruction, it was hard to navigate to a certain place because everything literally went from modern to rubbish.

Same with the city, the town of Millualo was also affected by the great earthquake. But unlike the city, the place was a bit better because the people in the town were rebuilding their stores and homes. The town was also in a rural area so there were no tall buildings and infrastructures, making the damage in the town a bit minimal compared to the city. When we went to the town, the place was really packed with people.

Then suddenly....

"Slaves! slaves! slaves! oh come buy some slaves...You can use them for any kind of labor, super cheap, super obedient, super useful. Come buy one now." An old merchant shouted while dragging the half naked slaves with him.

"What the fuck?."

On the other side...

"Oh women! women! if you need a woman come in my store and my women will satisfy your desires." The old merchant lady said while inviting the people walking in the road.

We were just peacefully walking when the old merchant lady pulled me to her store.

"Sir, you look so tired, why don't you taste some of my finest women, I'm sure you will be satisfied. The price is only 15 Gold coins each." The old merchant said.

"Ah sorry but I have something to do today." I refused to her offer.

After that, we just walked away from that store.

"What in the actual fuck is happening in this town?." Hiroshi said while looking at the poor slaves.

"let's gather information about this area." I suggested.

"But how are we going to do that?." Meldy asked.

"Based from a game that I played years ago, you can gather some information in a public place like restaurant and etc." I explained.

"But in this town, a restaurant is a bit expensive and we don't have the money, what are gonna do?." Hiroshi asked.

"I know exactly where to go." I said to them while looking at the bar.

********

"Ok here's the plan, since we have no money, we will make one by what?." Hiroshi asked.

"Earning?." Meldy answered.

"Nope."

"Stealing?." I answered.

"Correct Xoxo, you peter got an A+ for that wonderful answer." Hiroshi said while clapping his hands.

"Why do we need money tho?." I asked.

"Of course, we will use the money to buy food and drinks, and also bribe some of this rascals for some useful informations." He explained.

"But I'm not good with stealing." Meldy said.

"About that, leave the stealing stuff to me. Same with before all you have to do is to distract the target."

"Deal?."

"Ok sounds good to me. I haven't eaten a square meal for a while now, this might be the chance to eat some quality satisfying food."  I said to them.

"Don't worry, if we're  successful, by the end of the day we will have steak for dinner."